Amid all the problems plaguing Trenton, a tattered flag and a neglected monument are not the most pressing.

Symbolically, however, there couldn’t be a better way to signify that the city is ready to shake off the lethargy and disappointments of the past four years than sprucing up the disheveled Battle Monument and installing a new flag at the park on North Warren Street.

The daily toll of time and weather have diminished the towering monument commanded by the 13-foot statue of George Washington and the park in its shadow. That steady decline barely registers with residents and regular commuters.

The flag, she told Times staffer Cristina Rojas, is precious to her and her husband, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and Purple Heart recipient.

During a round of calls to various organizations and departments to determine responsibility for the upkeep, Janine Schmitt heard several iterations of “not I.”

Similar refrains, and complaints from veterans groups, prompted city Councilwoman Marge Caldwell-Wilson to purchase a replacement flag.

Caldwell-Wilson says that once the new flag and pole are in place, a group of veterans has agreed to voluntarily adopt the park and help maintain it.

That’s a good solution going forward.

But, for now, repairs are necessary at the closed monument. The elevator is broken, paint is chipping, and vegetation is overgrown.

For a city so steeped in history — and so interested in attracting visitors enamored of that history — Trenton can do better.

Instead of quibbling over what agency is responsible for which part of the maintenance, we urge Mayor Eric Jackson’s office to coordinate repairs and get it fixed.

Erected and dedicated more than a century ago, the Battle Monument marks the routing of sleeping Hessians by Washington’s poorly equipped troops — and a significant turning point in the Revolutionary War.

Washington is represented with outstretched arm indicating out where the enemy slumbered. But from atop the 150-foot granite perch, he might just as well be pointing out those who let the monument fall into disrepair.

Trenton faces problems today that it’s safe to say Washington could not have imagined.

In contending with poverty and violence, which can seem just as insurmountable as the largest army in the world once did to early Americans, the city needs inspiration.

That guiding spirit is embodied in the Battle Monument. We need to let it shine again.